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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

JOHN F. DRIGGS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STREET-SPRINKLER.

Specification of Letters Patent No, 15,647, dated September 2, 1856.

T0 all whom t may concern Bc it known .that I, JOHNF. Darcos, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Sprinkling Streets with W'ater; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a form of the apparatus constructed independently j of the building or buildings, and Fig. 2 is a form of t-he same in which the building is relied on as the support of the same.

The saine letters refer to corresponding partsin both the figures. j

It has been common to sprinkle streets by means of carts or bynozzles connected by hose to the hydrants. i

The nature of my invention consists in providing a perforated pipe slightly inclined from the horizontal and permanently connected to the aqueduct pipes or water mains under the street so that by opening a suitable cock or stop-valve the water at once spurts out through the perforatibns and wet-s the surface of the street, while at the same time the pipe is fixed at such an elevation as to serve the additional purpose of supporting awnings, signs, lamps, etc., if desired and provided with cheap and eflicient means of draining itself when not in use.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I construct a perforated pipe of any suitable material and place it in a position corresponding very nearly to that of the ordi.- nary awning pole in front of stores and dwellings. I connect it with the main by a pipe of sufficient size to allow for a free passage of the water and introduce at any convenient point at or below or near the surface of the ground a stop cock or valve of any known form. I prefer to fix the perforated pipe on perpendicular post-s at an elevation of from nine to twelve feet directly over the curb stone as represented in Fig. l. In this ligure A A represents the perforated pipe and B, B, C, C, the posts to support it, the

one represented by C C being hollow and serving as a pipe to connect A A with the water main E. The valve to let on the water at pleasure is indicated by the swell in the post at D. It is intended that the length of the perforated pipe shall vary from twentyfive to several hundred feet in length andthe internal diameter must of course be somewhat in proportion. An internal diameter of about 2 inches is sufficient for the length first named and in general the diameter for greater lengt-hs should increase as the square roots of the lengths. The number and size of the holes orperforations in the pipe may vary indefinitely but in location I prefer to arrange them in a horizontal line at an angle of about 35 degrees above the central line of the pipe so that the issuing streams may issue to the greatest possible distance. If preferred the perforations may be of considerablesizeand each provided with a wheel or partially coiled piece of pipe which shall be free to revolve like a screw by the action of the escaping fluid the better to facilitate its distribution. Or the holes may be long and narrow if desired so as to eject the water in a broad thin j sheet instead of a compact stream.

By opening the cock D the water from the main E flows up through the pipe O and fills A from the openings in which latter the fluid is ejected upon the street. If the valve D is wide open the water flies to its-greatest distance, but by closing the valve D gradually the fluid. is allowed to fall nearer thecurb stone until the whole surface of the street within reach is sufliciently wet.

In practice it is not necessary to actually deposit the water upon every square inch of the street as the natural tendency of little pools to spread themselves by capillary attraction over the whole surface is in most cases much increased by the passage of animals and of wheels. This rapid and cheap sprinkling is therefore, although not theoretically perfect, sufficiently so for the purpose intended.

I incline the pipe A A slightly as represented so that the extremity at which the water is received from the main shall be lower than the other portions. The object attained by inclining the perforated pipe in this manner is the rapid clearing of the water therefrom when the cock or valve D is closed. i

To avoid the inconvenience which might attend the presence of water remaining in the pipes A and C when not in use I provide a small aperture F just above D which by remainingalways open shall necessarily waste a small quantity while the sprinkler is in use but will always insure the elfectual drainage of the pipes so soon as the valve D is gfully closed. When the valve D is opened the water lls the upright C and the perforated pipe A and While it spurts out usefully upon the street from the latter it spurts out wastefully in a very small stream through the aperture F. But when the valve D is closed and the water ceases to Iiow from A the small stream from F becomes useful by draining off the remaining water which else might freeze or cause other annoyance. It also serves to discharge any water which may gradually leak through D when closed.

I can if preferable in any situations by means of a stuffing box at the point where A connects with C, so attach the perforated pipe A that it will'be capable of revolving. more or less in bearings on the tops of C and B. rlhe proper method of constructing such an application of my invention will readily suggest itself to any competent mechanic without further explanation. By this means and the addition of an arm or other suitable means of turning A I can control the direction in which the water is projected, so that from the locale of the ordinary awning pole I can sprinkle the sidewalk as Well as the street.

I can also if preferred in any suitable situation suspend the perforated pipe A upon brackets or other equivalents extending from the fronts of the buildings, and supply the water through one of the brackets or through a pipe specially provided for the purpose. Such pipe may lead up either on the exterior on interior of the building and may if preferred be molded into the form of a serpent or other graceful or classic figure. rlhis form of my invention is represented in sprinkling inmany branches of manufacture Vand that waste cocks have been prov vided in shower baths which open and drain the pipe with the closing of the main cock or valve. But I am not aware that any have attempted to employ such for the purpose of watering streets or have ever attempted `so to construct and connect an awning pole or a sign pole that it might serve this purpose.

Having therefore fully described the construction, arrangement, and use, of all the parts of my apparatus, what I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The peculiar arrangement of the above described perforated and slightly inclined pipe A in connection with the uprights C and B or with equivalent brackets from the neighboring building, and with the valve D, the waste passage F, and 'the water main E, when arranged in such a manner that it may serve the double purposes of supporting awnings, signs, lamps, etc., and of rapidly and efciently sprinkling the streets.

JOHN F. DRIGGS. Witnesses:

JNO. WARE, Jr., MILES CHAMBERS. 

